Murder Charges Are Dropped For Transgender Woman Who Claimed Self-Defense

"I'm grateful...it's been a long journey."

A transgender woman, who goes by Ms. Campbell, was facing murder charges in South Florida for killing a man named Jackson Marcelin back in 2016. Campbell said Marcelin stalked her and consistently approached her for sex, even after she refused his advances. One witness, who was Campbell’s roommate according to court documents, verified her history of being harassed. Another witness said Marcelin confronted Campbell with a wooden board, while she was holding a “sharp object.” This encounter eventually led to Marcelin’s death and Campbell asserts, “I literally did feel I was defending myself. I actually got struck by the board.” Prosecutors dropped Campbell’s murder charges when they were unable to find one of the witnesses and another witness changed their story.

Campbell and her attorney argued that if she was a cisgender woman, she would not have been charged with murder. “I do feel like that it may have been different if it was a woman in my situation,” Campbell told NBC 6. Her attorney, Herbert Erving Walker III, also supported this belief saying, “I think it’s without question that if [she] were a biological female, this case would be handled differently.”

Campbell revealed that she had been raped three times and this trauma was carried over to her encounter with Marcelin. “I’m grateful,” Campbell expressed, fighting back tears after the charges were dropped. “It’s been a long journey.” Campbell also asserted, “I have seen things happen to other transgenders who could not defend themselves.”